According to the report, 197 of 682 paragraphs in Mr Peña Nieto’s thesis were copied from authors ranging from Mexican historian Enrique Krauze to University of New Mexico academic Linda Hall.

The journalists from Aristegui Noticias allege that the paragraphs in question are not in quotation marks and that some of their original authors are not even mentioned in the thesis’ bibliography.

Government spokesman Eduardo Sanchez expressed his surprise at the fact that “style errors such as quotes without quotation marks and missing references to authors… should be of interest to journalists two and a half decades later”.

He said that Mr Peña Nieto had “fulfilled the requisites set by the Universidad Panamericana to graduate as a lawyer”.

The investigative team at Aristegui Noticias has clashed with President Peña Nieto before.

In November 2014, they uncovered evidence that Mr Peña Nieto’s wife had bought a house for $7m USD (£.3.4m) from a government contractor.